Wesley and Grace Dziedzic, of Park Ridge, spent three weeks of summer dedicated to their musical development as pianists. Their current piano teacher, Christie Chiles-Twillie of Piano Lessons in Your Home, Chicago, arranged the trip as an alternative to attending Interlochen Arts Camp to study piano, which the the Dziedzics had done for the past four summers. Chiles-Twillie said, “I know the kids have loved going away to study, but to further enhance and insure the student’s artistic development I wanted to avoid another summer of varied piano teachers. The piano staff members at Interlochen come from very different artistic backgrounds and their individual approaches to technique are unique. At some point in a piano student’s development, critical and consistent attention to his/her technique is essential to continue to propel the student forward technically and artistically.” Chiles-Twillie grew up playing piano and completed her undergraduate and Masters degrees at West Virginia University in Morgantown.

Following her own piano lineage and training, Chiles-Twillie arranged for Wesley and Grace to study with her childhood piano teacher, Dr. Charlotte Giles. Giles led the Music Department and taught piano at West Virginia State in Charleston. She is now retired. The Dziedzics had lessons every other day with Giles, for two weeks, beginning work on new repertoire. Grace’s repertoire included Bach’s 14th Invention and Allegro Burlesco, by Frederic Kuhlau. Wesley’s work included Mendelssohn Prelude No. 1 in E minor and several Chopin preludes. While staying as guests of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Charleston where Chiles-Twillie’s father is the Music Director, the students also practiced 2-4 hours per day outside of their lessons.

In addition to studying classical literature, Wesley studied jazz piano with Charleston area native and jazz recording artist Bob Thompson. Despite his own busy schedule, Thompson had three lessons with Dziedzic while they were in Charleston. They studied jazz theory, chord structure, improvisation and looked at the audition material that Dziedzic will need to master before auditioning for the Maine South Jazz Band in the fall. The connection? Thompson was the college roommate of Chiles-Twillie’s father, Fred Chiles, and Godfather to her sister. The Dziedzics also had the opportunity to hear Thompson play at the recently opened Charleston Brewing Company with his trio. Thompson gave Wesley the opportunity to play as well! Wesley played an original composition he recently wrote for his friend, "Jackie's Song."

Wesley began the trip to West Virginia alone as he competed in the semi-finals of The Intersection of Classical and Jazz piano festival at West Virginia University. Dziedzic had advanced to the semi-finals following the submission of audition materials back in May. He played Beethoven Sonata Op. 2, No. 3 and Waldesrauschen, by Franz Liszt. He had a great performance at the semi-finals. Although he did not participate in the finals, he took advantage of other learning opportunities during the week. Most importantly, he played in a Master Class with the West Virginia University mentor and professor of Chiles-Twillie, Dr. Peter Amstutz. He also attended sessions on “The intersection of jazz and classical music in composition and arranging,” from Eastman doctoral graduate Michael Conrad and “Piano Ragtime influences on 20th Century Compositions,” by Professor Paul Stewart from University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He attended concerts by West Virginia University piano professors, jazz pianist Dan Haerle and classical pianist Ann Schein, and had the chance to meet them and get their autographs!

Based on the musical growth of Wesley and Grace, the Park Ridge-West Virginia piano connection will continue to grow next summer. Wesley intends to submit audition materials for next year’s festival and Chiles-Twillie is already working to set up an opportunity for him to spend extended time in Morgantown to study with Dr. Peter Amstutz.

Both Wesley and Grace will have a full year of piano goals to accomplish before next summer! They will participate in the Sonata/Sonatina Festival at Harper College, Chicago Area Music Teachers Association teacher/student recitals, then the Piano Lessons In Your Home Concert Series and the Roberta Savler Competition. Wesley hopes to eventually study piano as a performance major.

A portion of Wesley’s studies with Dr. Giles was paid for by a Youth Arts Summer Camp Scholarship that he earned from the Park Ridge Cultural Arts Council!